A Fool and His Feathers Will Soon Part

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There is a story about a bird that was known for its beauty and great singing. It would sit at the top of a tree and make beautiful melodies. One day a man walking through the woods passed by the tree and heard the beautiful bird singing.  The bird saw the man, and saw that he was holding a box.

“What do you have in the box?” the bird asked the man.

The man replied that he had large, juicy earthworms in the box. “I will sell you a worm for one of your beautiful feathers,” he offered.

The bird pulled out a feather and exchanged it for a worm. He then reflected to himself,

Why should I work hard to get worms when it is so easy to get them this way?

The bird and the man repeated this process over the course of many days, and soon the bird no longer had any more beautiful feathers with which to pay for worms. Furthermore, he could no longer fly, nor was he beautiful. Therefore, he did not feel like singing beautiful songs anymore, and he was very unhappy.

Like this foolish bird, we are always tempted to look for shortcuts to get what we desire. The foolish bird tragically learned that there is a tremendous price to pay for taking shortcuts.

Shortcuts rob us of valuable lessons that we need to learn along the way. One of the hidden truths of life is that the journey to the prize is just as valuable than the prize itself. In addition, it is a scientific fact that the longest distance between any two points is a shortcut.

So unlike our featherless friend, don’t look for the way that is most easy, but the way that will prove to be most edifying.

Enjoying the Journey,

Corey


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